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Friday, November 2, 2012

Pumpkin Ginger Soup

Yes, I've made comments about the crazy amounts of soup people tend to eat in their first years overseas, but I really don't have anything against soup, unless it's the only thing I eat all week. When I first moved to India, I went through a period where the most creative thing I could think to do with vegetables and no oven was make soup. Even though that was a rough culinary patch, we do enjoy lots of comforting soup in the winter. It's one sure way to stay warm at least a little while!

This Pumpkin Ginger Soup is an adaptation of a soup from Simply in Season, same series as the More with Less cookbook, but in my opinion, tremendously more applicable to modern life in a place with very seasonal eating patterns. I've owned the book for a couple years, and it has really taught me to think differently and more creatively about the vegetables we have in season. Totally a worthwhile purchase if you're looking for a good "from scratch" type book. Anyway, this soup combines some of my favorite flavors of the autumn season into a bowl of gorgeous orange. A disclaimer on this, though, is that over the few years I've made it my daughter has never liked it. The rest of us love it so take that for what it's worth.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a soup pot. Add the onion and ginger and saute until golden. Add in the pumpkin, apples, water, and stock cubes. Bring to a boil and then cook over med-low heat covered until the pumpkin and apples are soft and mashable. If you use pumpkin that is already cooked, this process will only take 10-15 minutes. Add seasoning to taste. If you want a smooth soup, puree in the blender.

The cookbook suggests having this soup with bread smeared with honey butter. It's a delicious combination. This soup pairs really nicely with the Autumn Fruit Salad, too.